Monday, 24 June 2013

SHIGETO RINGLEADER

Today we have some more from Detroit-dwelling Shigeto. A few days ago I wrote about his pretty epic 'Detroit Part 1', a song that has all the raw roughness and empty-buildinged ghostliness of Detroit itself, a city pockmarked with voids of industry. This time we have another song from the upcoming album, No Better Time Than Now, out 19th August on Ghostly - it's called 'Ringleader'. It is also a little different.

It's different in that it has a completely different beat, namely a samba rhythm, coursing through this song like thick blood through robust veins, and because it isn't - as far as I can tell - an homage or dedication to anyone, place or thing. That samba rhythm is damn damn infectious though - it's like not really wanting to dance at a party but being convinced to do otherwise by the very fact that everyone else is dancing. Yes actually that's exactly what a samba beat is: a wave of people writhing rhythmically, inviting you to join the fun. I know there's such thing as a conga line, but here we have a samba wave. Much more fun.

The thickness-of-sound in this song, the triple-decker-sandwich vibes, is just lovely. Gigantic drums crash like waves in the background whilst xylophonic-marimbasome sounds clink & clonk, plink & plonk right in front of you, whilst a beat monopolises the foreground with shakers and hi-hats and bongos and who-knows-what-else. There is an actually fantastic bit (3:52) where everything except a faint synth disappears for two seconds and there's a drop that's like opening a door on a full-blown carnival, fish fly in the air and paint pours out, a mash of tropical colours that has in it all of the clammy mosquito twitchiness, the unknown faces frolicking on a beach, the legs working furiously to the rhythm, the drinks - all of it's in there.

Big sound big big sound, fully energised. And towards the end, synths like flowers opening almost sound like a sunrise as the beat calms down: the end of the party, everything whirling down the plughole, committed to hazy memory and there's the anticipation of attending that same party once again. Pretty much like the feeling of wanting to listen to this song again and again, etc. Roll on 19th August.